treacherous world

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang learned about Zhao Cong and Zhao Pu's past festivals from Zhe Ying, and also understood why Grand Master Pang suspected him, but everything must be based on facts, and the most urgent thing is to find Da Bing first.

The four of them had almost finished their meal, so they planned to find a place to stay, and were wondering where to live... Suddenly, a big man at the next table who was too drunk stood up, stepping on the stool with one foot and the ground with the other.It just so happened that the stool must have been a few years old, and with a "click", the legs of the stool broke.

"Ah!" The man leaned back and bumped into Zhan Zhao.

Bai Yutang reached out and pulled Zhan Zhao into his arms... With a "bang", the big man bumped into their dining table.

The table was overturned and the dishes were spilled all over the floor.

Zhan Zhao managed to catch the falling bamboo hat, looked at the big man, and thought to himself, this man is really sloppy.

But it doesn't matter at this glance, Zhan Zhao was stunned for a while, and then called out, "Ah! Two tigers!"

The big man also looked back at him, opened his mouth in surprise, "Zhan..."

Before he could finish speaking, a steamed bun slammed right at his mouth, firmly covering his mouth, and it was naturally Bai Yutang who threw the steamed stuffed bun.Bai Yutang looked at Zhan Zhao curiously, as if asking—two tigers?Who?

Zhan Zhao leaned into his ear and whispered, "My hometown, we used to play together when we were young, and we haven't seen each other for a long time."

Bai Yutang slightly raised his eyebrows... such a coincidence?

"Hiss." Erhu finally took out the steamed stuffed bun from his mouth, rubbed his mouth and looked at Zhan Zhao, "I almost didn't recognize you."

"Brother Hu, acquaintance?" The people who were drinking with Er Hu asked curiously, looking around... Zhan Zhao had already put on his bamboo hat.

"Oh, I was a brother in the past, he's good at kung fu..." Erhu didn't finish speaking, Zhan Zhao tugged him.

The two tigers must have seen some of the world. Seeing Zhan Zhao wearing a bamboo hat and looking mysterious, he probably guessed that he had some secret actions, so they didn't say anything. Zhao and they went out together.

"At the gate, everyone chose an empty alley, Ziying and Zheying were on guard, and Zhan Zhao followed Bai Yutang and Erhu into the alley.

"Why are you here?" Zhan Zhao asked Er Hu curiously.

Erhu scratched his head, "I committed some crimes in my hometown, so I ran here to seek refuge, and then I became a little king of the mountain in a daze, and I also got some troops, so it's not bad."

Zhan Zhao can't believe it, these two tigers are so stupid, they have been fools since they were young.At that time, he was strong and strong, and he always bullied the children in the same village. Once he bullied an official doll in Zhan Zhao's family. Zhan Zhao looked at him and beat him up.But the two tigers didn't know each other without fighting, and the whole village publicized that Zhan Zhao was the number one leader, and he was the second leader.Anyway, the two of them got along well afterwards, Zhan Zhao lived in his hometown for too short a time, so he really didn't know that the two tigers would become the King of the Mountain later.

Bai Yutang stood aside and didn't speak the whole time, just observing Erhu's words and deeds attentively. Although there was nothing wrong with it for the time being, he still added space.People like Erhu are the least likely to attract suspicion, but a fellow countryman suddenly appeared in this kind of place, and at this kind of time, wouldn't it be too coincidental?In addition, as a fellow villager, I probably also know Zhan Hao. There are many fellow villagers in Zhan Zhao's family. That weird Qiu Langxing is his fellow villager, and he is also from Zhan Hao.

"Hey, hello." Erhu saw Bai Yutang standing beside him coldly, his eyes were not warm at all, and his skin crawled from being watched, so he asked Zhan Zhao in a low voice, "Who is he? Why did you come here all of a sudden? Is it true that there is going to be a war?"

Zhan Zhao smiled slightly, and asked, "War? Who fights whom?"

"Don't tell me it's Tubo, Xixia, and Liao. Are you going to join forces to attack Zhao Pu?" Erhu asked, "Zhao Pu tied up the important ministers and successors of the three families, and made the three families go out of business. "

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang glanced at each other, and Ziying and Zhe Ying at the entrance of the alley were also surprised - didn't they only tie up one family?Shame on the other two too?

Zhan Zhao frowned, "Why do you say Zhao Pu kidnapped him? When did it happen?"

"Ah? You don't know?" Erhu looked regretful when he saw that there was no first-hand news, "Da Bing lost it a while ago, it was near the Dafeng Valley, and let's not say that a master sneaked into Xixia last night." And Daliao, have you kidnapped the princes and important ministers of several families? Now it is said that both sides are impatient."

"Where did you get the news?" Bai Yutang finally opened his mouth.

"There are a lot of people coming and going from north to south in this place, and now everyone is concerned about this matter." Erhu peeked at Bai Yutang again, it was getting dark now, he was wearing a bamboo hat and his cloak was pulled high, Erhu could only see his eyes.Subconsciously swallowing, Erhu leaned closer to Zhan Zhao, thinking who is this person?What a pair of cold eyes.

"Have you ever thought about who else did it?" Zhan Zhao asked Erhu, "After all, it's a bit ostentatious for Zhao Pu to do this, right?"

"Didn't everyone say that the emperor wants to unify the Western Regions?" Erhu clicked his tongue twice, "I tied people back so I can control them, who dares to fight against Zhao Pu now, those hundreds of thousands of elite soldiers are all brave and good at fighting."

"Where did these news come from?" Zhan Zhao was puzzled. They and Zhao Pu had just separated not long ago. During this time, Zhao Pu should have just arrived at the military camp. Why did two kidnapping cases appear again?

Ziying and Zheying didn't get the news either, which means that Zhao Pu might not have gotten the news or just found out... Otherwise, someone should have been sent to notify them.

Thinking of this, everyone's heart skipped a beat—originally Xixia and Daliao had a little reluctance to help Tubo, and Tubo also gave them a long deadline.Now if what the two tigers said is true, the attitudes of Liao and Xixia will also change. It can be seen that some people don't want to see this kind of easing situation, and hope that things will become more and more troublesome.

But at the same time, everyone also felt that Dabin might really not be dead, otherwise, the other party wouldn't be so anxious.

"People from Xixia and Liao Kingdom were also kidnapped in Dafenggu?"

"Then I don't know. There are a lot of foreigners coming and going here. We wouldn't come here if it wasn't for the unsafe situation."

"Oh..." Zhan Zhao nodded, and looked at Bai Yutang at the same time, as if asking——what do you think?

Bai Yutang lightly touched his chin with one hand—he was half-believing.

Erhu patted Zhan Zhao, "Second Zhan, do you want to go to my cottage?"

Zhan Zhao smiled slightly, "You're a bandit and I'm a catcher, aren't you afraid of getting into trouble?"

"Afraid what to do with that." Erhu laughed aloud, "This place doesn't matter, I'm in the west of Zangfeng Mountain, it's Hujiazhai, when will you come and sit with me, I haven't inquired about the situation at home for a long time gone."

Zhan Zhao nodded, and asked casually, "By the way, have you met my elder brother?"

Erhu seemed to be taken aback, and grinned at Zhan Zhao, "You mean Zhan Hao?"

Zhan Zhao nodded, and Bai Yutang also looked at him.

"Speaking of it, it seems that I have seen it once, but it feels very different. I didn't dare to recognize it, and it disappeared at a glance." Erhu raised his face and thought...

At this time, his followers all came out from the restaurant, shouting from a distance, "Brother, do you want to go?"

"Here we come." Erhu hurriedly said goodbye to Zhan Zhao, telling him to go up the mountain to find him, and hurried away.

After they left, Bai Yutang stretched out his hand to tighten the collar of the cloak for Zhan Zhao who was in a daze, "I always feel suspicious."

……

Zhan Zhao, Bai Yutang and the others first settled in an inn, while at the same time, Zhao Pu barracks.

The soldiers stationed in Heifeng City hadn't seen Zhao Pu coming for a long time, and they were all beaming when they heard that the coach was coming, while the people around Zhao Pu were staring at him.

No matter how slow Zhao Pu was, he could still notice the staring eyes of Gongsun and Xiao Liang. His Gongsun was nervous all day long, as if the sky was about to fall.

As soon as the troops were stationed, the shadow guards talked about the embarrassment of Xixia and Liao. These two families are very excited now, and they are discussing with Tubo overnight.

Both Bao Zheng and Pang Ji felt strange, if someone really made a hindrance, what was the purpose?I always feel that it seems not simple.

……

Zhan Zhao and the others managed to find an inn to live in. All the shops in Dafeng Valley are "black shops" for slaughtering people. The prices are expensive and there is no guarantee. This place is more dangerous than Jianghu.

That night, four people gathered in the room.

Zhan Zhao just went for a stroll outside and felt depressed. The locals in Dafeng Valley hardly communicate with others, and those who do business in other places are all passers-by and don't care about anything. He just didn't ask for even a little clue.

Ziying held her chin and sulked, "Hey, Zhe is smart, if they lock up Dahe and squint in the mountains, they won't be able to get out, what should we do?"

Zhe Ying also scratched her head, looking at Zhan Zhao, "Do you have any good suggestions?"

Zhan Zhao was also at a loss. At this time, he heard a "snap", and Bai Yutang put a thick stack of banknotes on the table, and said a few words in a calm and gentle manner, "It's not the best way. If you have money, you can buy money." Make ghosts grind."

Zhan Zhao and the others looked at him speechlessly, this man has started to prodigal again!

Afterwards, Bai Yutang called the store clerk and deliberately let him see the table full of banknotes. The clerk's eyes were green when he left, and he probably would attract a large group of people to rob him at night.

That night, it was really lively.

Ziying and Zheying stood guard at the door, while Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang were in the room, arresting anyone who robbed them, and finally piled up a big mountain of people.

At dawn, dozens of people were arrested, the house was so crowded that there was no room to set foot, and there was a lot of noise.

Zhan Zhao knocked on the table with Ju Que, "It's all quiet."

Those thieves and strongmen all turned their heads to look at Zhan Zhao, and they all looked stubborn.

Bai Yutang's banknotes on the table remained untouched. He looked at everyone, "I want to ask a question, and whoever can give me the answer will get the money."

Everyone looked at each other in blank dismay, "Ask what?"

"Clues to the kidnapping case, and, is there anything suspicious recently?"

When Zhan Zhao asked, everyone reacted differently, some looked blankly at the people around them, some shouted and made noise, Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang looked over one by one, and in the end, they really found a few people, they seemed to be thinking, maybe they knew what clues.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang asked Ziying Zheying to take the others away, stuffed some money into the seal, and left three people behind - two should be local ruffians, and one is a pure merchant, apparently also a passer-by.

Zhe Ying came in front of the three of them, knelt down and looked at them, "Guys, do you have any clues?"

The two hooligans swallowed, and seemed to be hesitant, but then they couldn't resist the temptation of a lot of money, so they said one thing.

"Recently, a few suspicious-looking people have indeed come here, and they all settled in the cottage in Xishan."

As soon as Zhan Zhao heard about the cottage in Xishan, he thought of Erhu. He had a bad feeling and asked, "Which cottage?"

"I don't know, Xishan is a dense area of ​​cottages, and there are many cottages." The two said in a low voice. people."

"How strange?" Zhan Zhao's curiosity was also aroused, and he asked.

"Hmm... an old man in his eighties and 90s, with white hair all over his head and a white robe." The two hooligans described, "Speaking in a feminine voice, like an eunuch."

His words made both Ziying and Zheying frown.

Ziying asked, "Does this white-haired old man have any characteristics?"

"Yes, although his white hair seems to be quite old, his skin is wrinkled, but he still wears heavy makeup. He doesn't behave like an old man, and he also has a team of men and horses. They are all men in black. They look like they have high martial arts skills. look."

"By the way!" A ruffian remembered, "Take an old man with white hair. There is a red circle under the eyes, as if painted on purpose. The face is also very white and the mouth is very red. There is a red circle between the eyebrows." The vertical bars are, in short, astonishingly weird."

Zi Ying and Zhe Ying winked at Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao, indicating that they knew him!

The two ruffians took the reward and left, leaving one merchant behind.The merchant looked hesitant, as if he was very scared.

Ziying snapped her fingers in front of his eyes to tell him not to be dazed, but he was so frightened.

"What's wrong?" Zhan Zhao asked him.

"I haven't seen the people they mentioned, but...the aliens you mentioned, I have seen some corpses."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang's heart skipped a beat—a corpse?Don't be afraid of anything else, just be afraid that the other party will kill and silence. Once Da Bing and others hand it back to him, it will be just a corpse, then it will be troublesome!

"Those seem to be foreigners." The merchant still had lingering fears when he thought about it. "I was planning to drive overnight with a few men. When I passed a forest in the western mountainous area, I heard strange noises inside. I sent a few I went down to have a look, but after waiting for a long time, none of them came back. I sent two more followers to look, but they didn't come back. Later, when it got dark, I was also a little worried. When I entered the forest, I found that There is a flat ground, there is no one there, except for a faint smell of blood."

Everyone frowned.

The merchant went on to say, "Later, when I was on the ground, I found that the soil was very soft, as if someone had dug it up, and I stepped on something. It was a weapon of my subordinates. I picked it up and dug twice. The corpse of the underground buyer was found." The merchant wiped his sweat, "I dug for a long time, but the more and more corpses I dug, I found that besides my few subordinates, there were several foreigners... At that time, I was scared. I was scared and fled back to Dafeng Valley. The horses and money were left on the mountain road, and I didn’t dare to go back to get them. I didn’t have any money, so I followed them here to rob.”

Zhan Zhao and the others asked him to explain the location of the valley in detail, and gave him silver taels as travel expenses to go back. The four of them rushed to the mountainous area overnight. Sure enough, they found the mountain in a forest not far from the official road. area.

The ground in this area was indeed soft, as if it had been dug up. Zhe Ying and Zi Ying carried shovels and dug all night, digging out many corpses.Because of the cold weather in this area, the body has not decomposed, and its appearance can still be recognized.

Zhan Zhao and the others recognized it at a glance, and several of them were Dabin's guards.

"Strange, why did they all die here?"

Zhan Zhao arrived at the outskirts of the forest, "There are many horseshoe marks around here, but they are very neat and not messy at all."

"There are also wheel marks." Ziying squatted on the ground and looked at the well-preserved wheel marks because few people came, "The car is not moving fast. Look at this big shoe print, so deep and so big, it should be Dabin's." , after all, fat people of three or four hundred catties are rare."

"There seems to be no trace of coercion." Zhe Ying frowned, "Did Da Bing come here voluntarily?"

"There is no Dabin in these corpses." Bai Yutang folded his arms and raised his face to look at the densely forested mountain. Something happened here, Dabin was taken away, and all his subordinates were killed.

"That's right." Zhan Zhao suddenly remembered, patted Zi Ying and asked, "Who is the white-haired old man that bastard mentioned just now?"

Ziying frowned, and looked up at Zheying.

Zhe Ying also had a sullen face, "It's probably Eunuch Cen."

"Eunuch?" Bai Yutang thought about it for a while, but the image fit him well.

"Cen... is that father-in-law next to Zhao Cong?" Zhan Zhao sighed inwardly, did he really have something to do with Zhao Cong?

"That old eunuch is very ghostly." Ziying shook her head, "On weekdays he basically lives in seclusion, because of his high status and seniority, the Eight Kings respect him more. He basically doesn't see people very much, he just follows Zhao Cong and treats Zhao Cong. Cong Yan's obedience, or in other words... is a subtle influence, and he has been influencing Zhao Cong according to his own ideas since he was a child."

"Oh..." Zhan Zhaoqian laughed twice, "You can be said to be a loyal slave, but you can also be said to be a slave with a different heart, right?"

"Hey, the prince said the same thing." Zi Ying smiled, "But it is said that he is very good at kung fu."

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao looked at each other silently, and found that Ziying had a deep-rooted admiration for Zhao Pu, thinking that Zhao Pu's judgment was correct, and almost all shadow guards were like this, so brothers and slaves... are different.

"Dahe might be in the mountains." Bai Yutang asked Zhan Zhao, "Maybe we should really visit your fellow villager."

"Hmm..." Zhan Zhao was squatting next to a dead body, "I think... I might know who did it."

"So fast?!" Both Ziying and Zheying ran over excitedly.

Zhan Zhao pointed to the necks of several corpses, "There are no other wounds on the whole body, only the necks are cut open, fast and ruthless, the purpose is only to kill people, without any compassion."

"Assassin." Bai Yutang also nodded, "And he's a master."

"The one who did it was a person, left-handed like you, with a knife." Zhan Zhao raised his face to look at Bai Yutang, "Da Bing's followers are all masters, there are not many people in the world who can kill so many people in an instant , and there is..." He said, twitching two black leaves from under the body of a dead man.At first glance, it looks like a leaf, but upon closer inspection, it looks like a butterfly—a butterfly that looks almost exactly like the leaf.

"Dead leaves." Bai Yutang took the two butterflies in surprise and looked at them, and finally frowned, "It's difficult."

Ziying and Zheying looked at each other and asked curiously, "Who is Dead Leaf?"

Zhan Zhao smiled slightly, hugged Ju Que and said gloatingly, "It's easy to lure him out, just shout three times, Bai Yutang is here, and he's coming."

Ziying and Zheying opened their mouths in surprise, "What do you mean?"

Zhan Zhao patted Bai Yutang, "That guy hasn't shown up for a long time, maybe he hid somewhere deep in the mountains to practice martial arts, but this time he came out, it seems that his martial arts has improved again."

Ziying and Zheying were in a hurry, "You two don't play tricks, okay, who is it?!"

"Withered Leaf is the most famous killer in the Jianghu." Zhan Zhao explained to the two, "I don't know where this guy came from. He is about the same age as us. He uses the Withered Leaf Knife with excellent skills. .This person has no feelings, no principles, and only pays money to kill others. And all the kills are masters, and he has never missed, except for one person."

Ziying and Zheying looked at Bai Yutang subconsciously.

Zhan Zhao nodded his fingers, "That's right, that's the white mouse that frustrates him a lot."

At this moment, Bai Yutang frowned and stared at the dead leaves, "He's different from other killers. Generally, people who make a living killing people would try not to leave traces after killing, but he would leave a few dead leaves every time. Make a sign."

"People in the Jianghu used to be terrified of dead leaves." Zhan Zhao smiled, "Three years ago, when you were still fighting, he swept almost the entire Jianghu. And this person has a problem. Before he wants to kill someone, he will first kill someone. Put a dead leaf next to the pillow of the person who kills, and kill again in a few days."

"Hey, isn't this scaring people?" Zhe Ying was puzzled, "Wouldn't it be nice if you could put the dead leaves by your pillow and just kill them?"

"He might find it boring. He treats killing as a game." Zhan Zhao poked Bai Yutang, "It wasn't you who he wanted to kill that time, right?"

"Yeah." Bai Yutang nodded, "It's my elder brother. My elder brother had some conflicts with some gangs because of the river gang, so the other party paid a high price to hire dead leaves to kill him." Bai Yutang said lightly, "That time I also Not in the empty island, I received news from my second brother that my eldest brother was being followed by dead leaves, and my sister-in-law was frightened."

Ziying and Zheying exchanged a look, the elder sister-in-law is like a mother and younger uncle is a son... Bai Yutang can tolerate anything but he can't tolerate others scaring his elder sister-in-law.

"So?" Ziying asked with great interest.

"I went back to Sky Island after I heard about it. When Dead Leaf came for the second time, I caught him, that's all." Bai Yutang shrugged, "There is something wrong with this guy, like a mad dog, fighting to death. I think he has either undergone inhuman training since he was a child, or he has endured countless hardships. I didn’t kill him, but he disappeared from sight. At first, he would pop up once or twice to compete with me, and then disappeared completely.”

"Then he was involved in the kidnapping of Dabin?" Zhe Ying scratched his head, "It is true that anyone can hire a killer."

"Withered Leaf is not a simple person. So far, apart from me, Zhan Zhao, Zhao Pu... maybe Ouyang and the others, the others may not be his opponents."

Ziying and Zheying looked at each other, what Bai Yutang meant was...

"This man kills people without blinking an eye, and he takes pleasure in killing people. If the other party has his help, we may be in trouble." He said, looking at the dense forest behind him, "It seems that the man in the dark has a lot of background."